The present invention is directed to a system and method for retrieving information, and in particular for retrieving information based upon a user specified geographic location.
Information storage and retrieval for businesses and other facilities based upon geographic location is used in many applications. Computer databases that store information about businesses or other facilities also store geographical location (e.g., latitude and longitude) and/or the postal code (e.g., ZIP code) of the business or facility and thereby allow retrieval of information about businesses or facilities according to the geographical location or ZIP code. A user that desires information about a business or other facility in an area is required to either know the ZIP code for that area or the latitude and longitude of a point near the area. Given this information, the computer databases are able to produce a listing of businesses in or near the requested ZIP code, or within a specified distance of a specified latitude and longitude.
Recent advances in geo-location technology, such as GPS receivers, have facilitated determining a latitude and longitude of a user""s current location. Given this information, the user is able to query a computer database for information about businesses or other facilities that are within a specified distance of his or her current, or a previously determined, location. This results in a list of businesses or other facilities that are within the specified distance of the user""s location. The user is then still required to identify the particular business or facility in which he or she is interested.
Thus, there is a need for solving the problems with the prior art as described above, and in particular for an improved method of identifying objects, such as businesses or other facilities, so as to facilitate retrieval of information about a specific business or facility.